At least 45 people died today when two suicide bombers detonated vehicles packed with explosives on the outskirts of the holy city of Karbala in central Iraq.
At least 150 others were wounded in the attacks, which occurred about 20 minutes apart at separate entrances to the city, known for its Shia shrines.
More than a million pilgrims are expected to visit Karbala in the coming days for ceremonies to commemorate Arbaeen, which marks 40 days since the anniversary of the death of Hussein, Shia's 3rd Imam.
Earlier on Thursday, a roadside bomb detonated among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims at the Al-Rasheed vegetable market in southern Baghdad, killing one and wounding nine, and another blast in central Iraqi town killed one and injured three.
At least 12 people were killed and 55 were wounded on Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated an ambulance packed with explosives outside a security headquarters in Baquba, north of Baghdad. And at least 49 were killed on Tuesday in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber attacked a line of police recruits.